Yahoo loses lawsuit by 2 Mexico firms

Updated 9:54 pm, Friday, November 30, 2012

Yahoo has been ordered to pay $2.7 billion to two companies in Mexico claiming breach of contract.

Yahoo has been ordered to pay $2.7 billion to two companies in Mexico claiming breach of contract.

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Yahoo loses lawsuit by 2 Mexico firms

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

JURISPRUDENCE

Yahoo loses suit by Mexico firms

Yahoo has been ordered to pay $2.7 billion as part of a lawsuit filed in Mexico by two companies claiming breach of contract.

The Sunnyvale company said Friday that a court in Mexico City handed down the decision in a lawsuit brought by Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas S.A. de C.V. The Mexican companies alleged breach of contract, breach of promise and lost profits arising from contracts related to a yellow pages listings service.

Yahoo said in a statement that it believes the claims are without merit and will appeal. If Yahoo were not to succeed in its appeal, the $2.7 billion judgment would exhaust more than one-third of the $7.6 billion in cash it held at the end of September.

SMALL BUSINESS

Pessimism running deep

Small-business owners are the most pessimistic they have been since the third quarter of 2010, according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, released Friday.

The index fell 28 points to minus-11 in the post-election survey conducted Nov. 12-16. Key drivers of the decline include concerns about cash flow, capital spending and hiring over the next 12 months.

One in 5 small-business owners (21 percent) expects to decrease the number of jobs at their company over the next 12 months - the largest percentage since the inception of the index in 2003, the San Francisco bank's poll showed. One in 4 (26 percent) reported a reduction in the number of jobs at their company over the past 12 months, and 1 in 3 (34 percent) expects to decrease capital spending in the next 12 months, up from 24 percent polled in July.

MOBILE DEVICES

Mini, iPhone to sell in China

Apple said Friday that its new iPad Mini will go on sale in China on Dec. 7, followed by the iPhone 5 a week later, adding the world's most populous country to the more than 40 markets where the devices are already available.

China is one of Apple's largest and fastest-growing markets; it contributed revenue of $23.8 billion in Apple's fiscal year ended in September, accounting for 15 percent of the total and up 78 percent from the previous year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said last month.